25 rescuers need 7 hours to rescue woman who hurt hip while hiking

BETHLEHEM — About 25 rescuers helped carry a Connecticut woman three miles after she fell and injured her hip while hiking on the Zealand Falls trail Wednesday afternoon, New Hampshire Fish and Game Sgt. Brian Suttmeier said.

Suttmeier said Anne Batterson, 73, of Canton, Conn., was hiking the trail with family members about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when she fell. She injured her left hip and was unable to walk.

He said about 25 rescuers from Fish and Game, the U.S. Forest Service, Pemigewasset Search and Rescue team and the Appalachian Mountain Club helped carry the woman in a litter to a trailhead, where she was taken by ambulance to Littleton General Hospital.

He said the rescue took about 7 hours, slowed partly because Wednesday's rain made the trail slippery.